The Internet Guide To White Children And Youth Who Have Been Victims Of Racial Crimes.

Friday, October 28, 2011

Alicia Dyches

OLAR, SC (WIS) - A man charged with killing a teenage Bamberg County store clerk screamed profanities at members of the victim's family during his bond hearing on Wednesday.

Moments before a judge denied bond for 20-year-old Michael Daniels, the sister of 19-year-old Alicia Dyches broke down in court and wailed, "I hope he pays."

"F--- you," Michaels responded, before repeating the insult.

Authorities say Daniels went into the Tiger Express convenience store in Olar near closing time Monday night, killing Dyches and wounding another employee and a store customer.

Bamberg County Sheriff Ed Darnell says Daniels lived near the store. Dyches' father Mark says Daniels harassed his daughter in the weeks before the killing.

"He took from me the most important thing in my life," said a devastated Mark Dyches.

Dyches recalls talking to his daughter three hours earlier. "I had just got off the phone with her at 8:15, she called me last night and said she was coming by when she got off work," said Dyches. "I sat up and waited. I texted her. She never texted back. I got a call after saying she had been shot. I got there. It was too late."

Dyches' 53-year old coworker, Dwight James Williams, and 17-year-old customer Kenneth Utz were also shot in the incident. Utz and Williams are recovering at area hospitals.

Investigators took Daniels into custody about 30 minutes after the incident and charged him with murder, armed robbery, kidnapping and numerous other charges.

Investigators say Daniels was trying to rob the place. Dyches says Daniels had been harassing Alicia for weeks. "I think he was trying to hit on my daughter, trying to get her to talk to him but she wasn't interested," said Dyches.

Dyches says both he and Alicia filed reports stating Daniels was threatening his daughter. Investigators say Alicia didn't complete the process of getting a restraining order.

"There's a hole in our heart that can't be filled," said Dyches' aunt, Margurita Gurbbs. "She didn't deserve being killed. She was just doing her job."

Flowers lie at the store where Dyches was killed. She had only worked there for about four months, doing a job many in the small town saw her doing day in and day out.

"She always had a smile on her face," said Patricia Fail. "When I walk in the store I'm still gonna see Alicia with a smile on her face. It's gonna be hard for me to go in and know she's not gonna be here."

Daniel's mother is also taking it hard. "I love him. I'm gonna stand by him through everything," said Virginia Williams. "It wasn't really the son I knew, because it's like something is going on in his head. I can't understand it."

"I'm sorry it happened to all the families," Virginia Williams continued. "I can't say that I know what they're going through but I sympathize because I lost a child also."

Tragedy in this small town that hasn't seen a murder in 30 years. "If you wanted to walk to the store from work or get in the car and go to the store to get a drink, you kinda have a second thought about that now," said Patricia Fall.

Now Dyches is planning a funeral for his daughter he loved so much. "She was my best friend and I need her," said Dyches.